In Unruly Gaza, Clans Compete in Power Void

Gaza now seems more like a street-corner society, with the various security forces only more sophisticated varieties of the militant gangs that have their base in neighborhoods, refugee camps and hamullas [clans or tribes].

The hamullas are again so powerful in Gaza that rival security forces seek to buy their loyalty with money and weapons, while hamullas seek to ensure that their members are represented in all crucial groups, including the militants of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and of course Fatah, which is supposed to be the bulwark of the Palestinian Authority...."The police, the courts, the security services don't solve a single problem. If you go to them and say, 'Someone stole my house,' they don't even open a file."